Insurance Court must record reasons for waiving condition of pre-deposit under Sec 75(2)(B) ESI Act: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court has set aside an order passed by an Insurance Court on the ground that the procedure adopted by the court is violative of Section 75(2B) of The Employees’ State Insurance Act. The Single Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan said, “It is luculent from the statutory provision that the Insurance Court is bound to insist that the principal employer deposits 50% of the amount unless, for exceptional reasons which are to be recorded in writing, the court chooses to exercise its discretion and altogether waives the pre-deposit or reduce the same. In the case on hand, the Insurance Court has chosen to take the easier path. A perfunctory and non-speaking one-line order has been passed staying the entire proceedings until the disposal of the case.” In the instant case, the Original Petition was filed by Employees State Insurance Corporation through its Deputy Director and Recovery Officer against the interim order passed by the Employees Insurance Court Thiruvananthapuram. The Insurance case was initially filed by Mr. Surendra Das, who was the 1st respondent in this case. He challenged the recovery notice issued by the petitioners for recovering the dues to the Corporation for the period up to 10/2014 to an amount of Rs. 20,02,684/-.